I do not own John Wick or any of its characters.
Assistance
James groaned, bucking up into Ares, flooding her, and Ares arched, clenching around him as her body shook. Both continued to buck against each other for a few more seconds before settling, Ares lying on top of him as she struggled to catch her breath. Suddenly, both of their phones went off. Both reached over, picking them up, and James frowned, seeing it was an alert about John being Excommunicado and a fourteen million dollar bounty on his head, which went into effect in about forty minutes. He sighed, setting his phone back down.
"Are you going to try to collect?" James asked.
"Are you?" Ares signed.
"Not a chance," James said. "I'm going to help him. I'm a John Wick fanboy."
Ares smiled, kissing him before signing, "Then let's go help."
James smiled, nodding, and pulled her into a kiss, holding it for several long moments. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Ares signed, smiling.
They both got up, getting dressed quickly before leaving the Continental, checking out on the way.
"Where are we heading?" Ares signed.
"The library," James said.
"Really?" Ares signed, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think they have a John Wick comic book section."
"Very funny," James smiled.
They headed down the road for a ways before reaching a small self-storage unit where they both kept motorcycles for special occasions. Once both had pulled their bike out to the road, they pulled on their helmets and sped off, racing down the street and weaving through traffic at speeds that would most likely result in a fatal collision even with a pedestrian. Finally, they reached the library and ran inside.
"Russian Folklore?" James asked the secretary.
"Second level," she said, disinterestedly.
The two of them walked up the stairs together and headed for the section with the label he'd asked for.
"So...what are we looking for?" Ares signed as they walked down the aisles.
"If I know John, which I probably don't, he'll have a book that's of use to him," James said.
"Here's one about the Baba Yaga," Ares signed.
"That won't be it," James said, Ares flipping through the book anyway.
James stopped as he found a thick black book that was a collection of folklore myths. He picked it up and let it fall open, only to notice that only the first fifth of the pages moved, the rest remaining in place. He opened to the first stuck page, seeing an image of a woman in a white dress in front of a dark background.
"Clever," James nodded. "I found it."
Ares walked over to his side as James pulled the page, revealing a hollow cut into the rest of them. On top was a black-and-white photo of John kissing the side of a woman's head, making her laugh. He carefully moved it out of the way, then smiled at the rest of the contents. A few Gold coins, a Marker, and a rosary. He pulled it all out, slipping it all into his pocket before replacing the photo of John's wife, then sealing the book and putting it away. Then, he led Ares a few aisles away to wait.
"Why leave the picture?" Ares signed.
"Respect," James said. "I'm not looking to insult him."
Ares nodded and they leaned against the shelf as time ticked past. After about five minutes, they heard John speed-walk down the aisle they'd just left, and both stepped out, seeing a very, very tall man blocking the aisle.
"Consider your origins," the man, Ernest, read from the book in his hands, James recognizing Dante's Inferno. "You were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge. Dante." He closed the book and put it away. "Looking a little run-down, there, John."
"Ernest," John greeted him. "I still have time."
"It's almost up," Ernest said. "Who's gonna know the difference."
"Every time John turns around, there's someone racing to break the rules just to be killed by him," James said, stepping up behind Ernest with Ares, both of them shoving a knife up into Ernest's lungs, silencing him. "You people all have no respect for rules."
They removed their knives as Ernest fell to his knees and James jabbed his quickly into Ernest's throat in a quick, fluid strike and withdrawal. It was clean and quick enough that it took almost a full three seconds for blood to begin to spurt from the wound.
"James," John greeted him.
"John," James nodded, Ares waving.
"Ares," John nodded. "Are you two here to collect?"
"Yeah, no, I'd prefer to be alive to spend whatever money I make, not die trying for the jackpot," James said, pulling the things from John's book out of his pocket. "We're here to help."
"You'll be declared Excommunicado," John said.
"You still have time," James shrugged. "Come on. We have bikes outside."
"I thought you knew how horrible an idea that was," John said as he followed them out.
"In a car chase," James nodded. "In a race against time, it's necessary."
"We'll run out of time and have to ditch them," John said, taking one bike, Ares getting on with James. "Follow me."
James nodded and they sped off. However, time ticked by quickly. As it dipped below a minute, James sped up to yell to John. "We're heading somewhere we can have an uninterrupted fight!"
John nodded his understanding, then squeezed his brake, James likewise braking hard. All around them, phones were ringing. John glanced at James and Ares and both nodded before the two bikes roared and sped off again. All three looked around carefully for any vehicles paying them too much attention, but after a few minutes, they had to stop again as a box trailer suddenly smashed through several cars in order to block the road. A pair of Asian men in black jumped out of the back, another pair from the cab, and two more from taxis behind them.
"You're not honoring the Excommunicado?" one of them asked.
"I am," James said. "In my own way. We're heading somewhere I can finally see how I measure up to John Wick without shit like this interrupting me." He looked back at the man that had spoken from behind them. "Don't get in my way. It's not against the rules, and it's not against the rules for me to kill you in order to defend my challenge."
The Asians all smirked before going for their guns. As one, John, James, and Ares all drew theirs, each picking a pair and dropping them before abandoning the bikes and beginning to run. A black man stepped out ahead of them with a knife, but John caught his hand when he moved to stab him, turned the blade around, and drove it into his own abdomen at an angle, hitting his heart. They continued to run for a ways before reaching a thick crowd. All three moved quickly and silently, keeping one hand on their guns. James was the first to spot trouble coming, seeing a white man with shoulder-length black hair walking directly toward them without an umbrella, unlike all of the people around him, though he had on a heavy raincoat, under which James knew from experience he carried multiple shotguns and rifles. James grabbed his knife, dropped his face, and disappeared into the crowd. The man ignored him, staring at John instead. Since he did, he was totally unprepared for James to reappear directly in front of him, driving his knife into his heart as he acted like he was giving him a one-armed hug.
"Nice to see you again," James said. "Have a good rest."
Then, he continued on his way with his knife, John and Ares both passing the man less than a second before he collapsed, the crowd taking another ten seconds to realize he'd been killed. The next problem was a pair of middle-aged women, both brunettes, grabbing James and dragging him into a dress boutique. A moment later, Ares arrived just in time to kick one of the two's pistols away while James hurled the other's. Both women yanked a pair of knives from their dresses, and James sighed.
"I hate fighting against knives!" James groaned.
His opponent lunged, slashing a wide arc into the air, only for James to duck under it, then catch the other arm and drop onto his back. As the woman fell after him, he rotated her arm, making her fall on her own knife before throwing her off, stripping the other knife from her hand then drove it into her eye. He looked up at Ares and her opponent as Ares ducked around a stab, jabbing her push knife into her opponent's carotid artery. James sighed, standing just as a blonde woman burst out of the back with a pistol, only for James to rip the knife he'd just stabbed his opponent in the eye with out and fling it across the room into this woman's forehead. He sighed, standing, and followed Ares back out into the street, flipping the sign to closed and shutting out the lights on the way out, then looked around just as John sprinted into a horse stable, being chased by a group of about six men.
"It's going to be a long night," James sighed.
Ares nodded and they quickly made their way toward the stable, only to stop as John left it on a horse. A pair of motorcycles began to chase him, only for Ares to finish screwing in her suppressor and shoot both of them. James grinned, nodding, and they took the bikes, chasing John.
"Did you get lost?" John asked.
"We went dress shopping," James said.
"Eleanor," John nodded, referring to the blonde.
They all fell silent as they raced along the back street they were in, then slowed to a stop outside a closed down theater.
"You can't come in," John said.
"No," James nodded, looking across the street and seeing what looked like an older Asian man vanish into the shadows. "We'll fight here. Drop your ticket off first."
John nodded, walking over to the ticket booth and passing the woman his rosary and his Marker. "Hold these for me."
The woman nodded and John returned to James and Ares. All three set their pistols and knives aside.
"I'll need to make it quick," John said. "Sorry."
James nodded his understanding, then stepped forward to throw a punch. However, as he did, John instantly caught his arm, swinging him in a circle before slamming him into Ares. Then, when both were on the ground, he curb stomped their heads, knocking them out without killing them before grabbing his pistol, returning theirs to their holsters for them, and then returning to the ticket counter.
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